


Royal Snogging

by shirewalker



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Royals, Snogging, alina didn't know she was a princess and now she has to learn the trade, nikolai is the handsom royal coach, obviously something is bound to happen, oh and both are undeniably attracted to each other, royal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirewalker/pseuds/shirewalker
Summary: for a tumblr request, on the prompt: "i grew up not knowing i was royal and now i guess i’m heir to a throne and you’re the guy who’s supposed to be teaching me how to be royal bc i suck at it and oops we made out"





	Royal Snogging

 

 

 

“Again.” He said, a bit tired after three hours of trying to get the princess to recite the Constitution’s first three and most important points. So far she wasn’t doing terribly, except when she’d say it right three times and then wrong five times. By this rate she’d be thirty before she would be able to glare to cinders anyone that dared to pass a stupid law in council.

“I got it right five times already. Can’t we take a break?” She groaned from her sofa, her petite frame lost somewhere within the layers and layers of her pale golden dress.

He walked up to the music player, “All right, princess, I guess for today it is enough of Constitution.” He hit play and a soft, jazzy song filled the room, “Now, etiquette rules. You know the drill, all of them.”

She groaned again, “Really?”

Amusement tugged at his lips, “Alina, love, you have to be ready before the Winter Solstice or the council and all the old white men in it will run you into the ground.”

Her head snapped up and fire burned in her eyes, “Don’t call me love, Nikolai.”

The smirk he flashed had her insides flipping like acrobats, “All right, princess. What should I call you then?”

She sat up, back straight, head poised, hands on her lap. Just like he’d taught her, “Princess is fine. Alina is fine as well, as long as it’s behind closed doors.” His eyes sparked with a private joke and her cheeks heated up, “And all those royal titles you keep calling me.”

He arched a brow, “Your highness?”

“Yes.”

“Etiquette?”

For a moment she was lost, why was he calling her ‘etiquette’? But then her brain kick-started and she groaned again. Saints damn the man, all he had to do was smile a little longer at her and she would lose grip on her carefully groomed self-control. Why did he have to be her coach? Why this insufferable exemplar of a man? Just because he was the only one close to her age in a wide pool of royals in Ravka? It wasn’t because of his lineage, the Lantsovs had long lost any right to the throne, all thanks to some Vasily losing everything in some stupid situation of… Oh what was the point? She couldn’t even remember important points in Ravka’s history! Still, the point remained. Why was Nikolai her coach and not some old lady? It would be so much easier.

Because the truth that she would never admit out loud was that Nikolai Lantsov happened to be the biggest distraction in the room. And she could never concentrate properly when he was around. Which was always.

Why? Because he was an insufferable git. Obviously.

He raised both brows, “So…?”

“What? Oh. Right.” And again she’d lost track of things… “Can’t we do something else? Something less theoretical?” Maybe go for a run. Or ride the horse. Not that she enjoyed it that much, but it would be preferable over trying to recite rules of etiquette when her mind was already too tired. And distracted. Saints damn her, there it was, that smirk again! Wait… Something sank in her stomach. This was the mischievous smirk. The one that had gotten her in that big, poofy dress the first time. The same that had gotten her in trouble with Baghra.

“All right, princess. I guess we could do something more… practical.” He turned to the music player again and chose another track.

Oh.

No.

He offered a hand, “Waltz?”

She cursed herself. Why couldn’t she accept her fate and stick to etiquette? Whatever, what’s done is done. Resigned, Alina walked to him and took his hand, willing her body to not tremble, nor sweat, nor blush during this dance. She really didn’t need that. Nikolai would never let that go. He might even do more things just to get her all worked up.

Nikolai pulled her in, his other hand settling on her waist. A gasp escaped her self-control, surprised as she was with the soft touch. His eyes shined but silence remained. And then, finally, the dance started. One, two, three. One, two, three. So far so good. Alina hadn’t stepped on him, neither had she blushed too hard. And Nikolai was quiet, which meant death threats were kept on a low number today.

One, two, th—

Nikolai hissed as Alina missed a beat and stepped forward too late. Despite the stumble, Nikolai continued dancing, shaking softly his head, a chuckle on his lips, “Something distracting you today Alina?”

She looked away, “What? No. Why?”

“Well,” his voice was laced with humour, “You never step on me this early in the waltz. Always after ten steps. Today it was a lot earlier. Something must be occupying your mind.” He turned her outwards, her skirts rustling with the movement, “Do share.” Following the momentum of the step, Alina twisted back into his arms.

She really shouldn’t have, but the second she was back in place, her eyes locked on Nikolai’s. Those beautiful, hazel eyes that always seemed to have a playful spark ready to ignite. Today they looked particularly golden, the brown overtaking those specks of green that always had her thinking of emeralds. She’d always thought blue eyes were the best ones, but that was until she’d seen Nikolai’s. No blue eye could ever compare. No! She shouldn’t be thinking this. She really, really shouldn’t. She had to look away. Now!

Reluctantly she looked away, however, her gaze didn’t stray far, falling easily on his lips. Oh saints. She’d never been this close to his lips before and something she would never admit to anyone ever came to her mind. Those were the most perfect and lush lips she’d ever seen. The slope of his lower lip, the dip of his cupid’s bow, the perfect and soft texture… Her own had never been like that, always on the verge of cracking. Nikolai, Nikolai had perfect lips. Before she could stop herself, her mind was already wondering what it would be like to kiss those lips.

Wait, was he… was he getting closer?

She blinked. No. She was the one. No… They were both leaning in.

Her heart let out a startled ‘oh’ as their lips met. The pressure of his lips soft, tentative. Her eyes fluttered closed and she placed her hands on his shoulders, holding herself up as her body threatened to melt to nothing. Then… Then the kiss changed. The pressure changed and suddenly his lips were moving, goading her own, luring her deeper into it the kiss. His arm circled her waist and pulled her closer, until there was nothing left between the two of them. A hand cupped her nape and Alina buried her hands deep into Nikolai’s hair, the golden locks thick and silky between her fingers.

Stars, she was starting to see stars. And saints help her, this was everything. As Nikolai’s teasing tongue deepened the kiss, Alina couldn’t help the soft and delighted moans that formed in her throat and poured into Nikolai’s mouth. Her knees were butter, melting away as she let herself get lost in this kiss. She’d been kissed before, of course she had. After all, she’d had a normal life until she’d turned eighteen. But this? Oh saints, those other kisses were nothing compared to this. The way her body seemed to be on fire in all the places Nikolai was touching her, the way he leaned her back ever so slightly, as lost in the kiss as he was, the way his lips moved against hers. Saints, her heart couldn’t handle it all. It would explode from all the excitement, surely.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

She snapped her eyes open, her lips still busy in another world. During the split second before she broke the kiss, Alina had the chance to see the way Nikolai scrunched his eyebrows in the heat of the moment. It was… quite a sight. But soon the moment was gone, the footsteps now loud enough that even focused-on-the-kiss Nikolai heard them.

Where there had been nothing between them a second earlier, now they stood three paces away from each other, their breathing erratic, their cheeks flushed. Nikolai barely had time to comb his hair back into place before there was a soft knock and a maid entered the room.

The maid was startled to see two pairs of eyes staring at her, “Oh!” She quickly covered her surprise with a bow, “Apologies, Your Highness. But I have a message from your Tailor.”

“Oh? What is it? And please, you don’t have to address me like that.”

“Of course, princess.” She cleared her throat, “The Royal Tailor has called to announce there has been a change in plans. Her plans for the day have been delayed a bit, so she won’t be here until sometime in the middle of the afternoon. She also said she would call in advance to confirm your availability.”

Somehow, Alina didn’t think her Tailor had spoken like that. Genya was one of the few people that still talked with Alina like a normal person. She was certain her friend had said something among the lines of being late and only having time in the afternoon. But she couldn’t blame the maid for wanting to do her job well. With as much graciousness as her rushing heart allowed her, Alina nodded and dismissed the maid with a heartfelt thank you.

The distancing footsteps echoed in her head and within the chambers of her heart, that damned thing still beating hard as she stood there frozen.

Not a moment and a blink later, Nikolai stood in front of her again. She looked up and saw his eyes searching her face, looking for something. He put up a tentative hand and slowly brushed his knuckles on her cheek, the touch so light that Alina wondered if she was imagining it. The need to lean into his touch was irresistible. But this was Nikolai, the insufferable git that drove her mad with his witty remarks and his ill-timed smirks and that lazy pace of his and oh, that gaudy teal coat he always wore everywhere.

“I want to kiss you…” it was a breathy confession, Nikolai still at a loss for air as he’d been a minute ago. It made her heart flutter inside her chest and do all sorts of crazy acrobatics. Again.

Her lips twitched, “You already have…”

That smirk of his found its way back to his lips and oh, who was Alina kidding? Nikolai was insufferable, but he was certainly the only one that made her feel the way she did when they were together. Any and all worries flew out the window and everything seemed so much easier to handle. All with Nikolai showing up for the day.

He leaned in, his hand moving back to her nape. “I want to kiss you… again…”

Oh. In that case… Standing on her tip toes, Alina grabbed his lapels and pulled him in for a kiss. Unlike the first one that started slow, this one was hungry from the start. Perhaps this was what happened when one bottled down a lot of feelings for their royal coach. Nikolai dived into the kiss just as eagerly as Alina, blindly directing the two in the general direction of a loveseat that was somewhere by the garden windows. She vaguely thought about the exposure of such location, but Nikolai’s lips and hands and oh, saints, was that a groan? Saints damn her, what was she thinking about just now? Probably nothing important, if she’d forgotten all about it with just that sound.

Finding out she was the crown princess of Ravka didn’t seem like such a horrible situation now. After all, it had led her to a loveseat and a very, very incredible make out session with her insufferable royal coach.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed it!!
> 
> fangirling/comments/feedback keep headaches away! (I wish...)


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